The election in May brought significant changes to the Waterfront, among them Chris Glover as our new member of Provincial Parliament. He was among the candidates who presented their platform at the spring YQNA meeting, and was swept into office on an NDP wave that covered the entire downtown. Chris went from school trustee to MPP for the Spadina-Fort York riding. He lives in a Waterfront condo, and as a former teacher who just received his PhD, he is keenly aware of the need for more schools in our densely populated area, where children are a growing part of the demographics.

Chris sees his role in the opposition party to Doug Ford’s majority PC government as the conscience and watchdog of Parliament. He met with YQNA’s Planning Committee on a beautiful summer day to hear our concerns for the Central Waterfront and proved to be a good listener. His agenda is very similar to ours: more transit and expanded LRT on Queens Quay, affordable housing, more protective measures for condo owners and renters, better help for the disabled and finding employment for them. We look forward to working with Chris and hope to see him as our frequent guest in YQNA.

The revitalized Queens Quay West in the Central Waterfront. Photo: Nicola Betts

You are invited to attend a public meeting for the Waterfront Transit “Reset” Phase 1 Study. Two public meetings are coming up — one at Harbourfront Centre, the other at a location in the Western Waterfront. A presentation, hosted by Waterfront Toronto, will show the progress and ideas of the study to date on a range of transit concepts.

The Study

The City of Toronto, in partnership with the TTC and Waterfront Toronto is establishing a vision and plan for a comprehensive Waterfront transit network.

During phase 1 of this study, Waterfront Toronto is reviewing existing Waterfront transit, previously planned transit initiatives, and current and future transit needs.

Of special interest to Waterfront residents is the ongoing work to develop a preferred east-west Waterfront transit solution that will integrate north/south transit and link people from across the City to the Waterfront.

Your participation and feedback are important to help shape the future of Waterfront transit.

Meeting in the Brigantine Room, Harbourfront Centre

Date: Wednesday May 25, 2016Time: 6:00 p.m. to 8:30 p.m.
Open house begins at 6:00 p.m., followed by a presentation at 6:30 p.m.Location: 235 Queens Quay West, Toronto, at Brigantine Room at Harbourfront Centre (major intersection is Queens Quay West and Lower Simcoe Street)Transit: Closest TTC subway station is Union Station. Take the 509 Harbourfront streetcar or the 510 Spadina streetcar to Harbourfront Centre. Walk west on the south side of Queens Quay to Harbourfront Centre at Lower Simcoe Street.Accessibility: Wheelchair accessibility is at the main entrance.

University of Toronto Transportation Research Institute (UTTRI) is launching a smartphone-based travel survey in partnership with Waterfront Toronto. Install the app and you could win $1,600 prizes while improving transportation in the region!

The app was developed on behalf of Waterfront Toronto and is used to monitor travel and transportation-related energy use and emissions.

GTHA users who install the app and provide their email address are entered into a four-week contest with three $100 draws every week, starting on November 28, 2014. An additional $100 is also up for grabs every week for users who submit data through the project’s web validation tool – a link to this will be sent to active app users after installation.

Spadina streetcars are expected to operate again to Queens Quay Loop (the corner of Spadina and Queens Quay) by Christmas. However, construction at Union Station will continue to block access to the Union Station underground loop until February 2014.

Development plans for the Lower Yonge Precinct (Yonge to Jarvis) are still unclear, but will likely include tall condo towers on the north side and redevelopment of the LCBO warehouse and store. Redevelopment of the Loblaws site is also possible.

A reconfiguration of Harbour Street will include demolition of the York Street off-ramp. (YQNA notes: a park will be maintained at York and Queens Quay.)

Development of the East Bayfront between Jarvis and the Parliament Street slip is underway to make it similar to the western section of Queens Quay. But transit plans are incomplete, with LRT a possible future option and some sort of enhanced bus service likely.

Munro’s report includes detailed analysis of transit plans for the entire area. It also has links to detailed reports covering transit activities on the Central Waterfront, Lower Yonge Precinct, East Bayfront, West Don Lands, Cherry Street, Lower Don Lands, Port Lands, Union Station Second Platform, and the Gardiner Expressway Replacement or Reconstruction. Click for the full article.